Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Movie Release Date, News, Rumors, and Updates: Harry Potter Director in Talks to Helm the Film

By Ken Salcedo Aug 22, 2014 08:29 AM EDT

Director David Yates — (Photo : WeGotThisCovered.com)

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Movie Release Date, News, Rumors, and Updates: Harry Potter Director in Talks to Helm the Film

The Harry Potter films began back in 2001 and ended in 2011 releasing 8 films in the decade with multiple directors taking on different films. The film franchise grossed over $7 Billion worldwide. Director David Yates, who's responsible for the last four Harry Potter films in the franchise, has been reported to be in talks to direct a trilogy of new films based off of the spin-off Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The new film will also mark the screenwriting debut of Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, who also wrote the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them back in 2001.

The book is a reproduction of one of Harry Potter's textbooks that was mentioned in The Sorcerer's Stone, and is about the magizoologist Newt Scamander detailing animals in the magical world. The film adaptation will focus on the life of Newt Scamander and will be set 70 years, in 1920s New York, before the events of the Harry Potter series.

It was announced in September 2013 that Warner Bros. is has planned a trilogy of films based off of the said book with Harry Potter producer David Heyman returning for the project. It is part of the creative expanded partnership of Rowling with the film studio. In July 2014, Warner Bros. announced that filming will eventually take place in Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden in the U.K.

Director David Yates is currently filming Tarzan until November, and that a proper filming schedule for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them has not been set.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is slated to be released November 18, 2016.